"You suffer", I said when she returned, "and you are embarrassed because of me."
She struggles with her tear, but then she got hold of herself.
"I love Daniel very much", she said,   "But he is not a man of schedule, I don't  mind hard work , but I want to plan my day and have order in my duties, he is a man who act on the spur of the moment, he is excellent pastor, people like him very much, but I am afraid take and advantage of him too."
"Your gifts are different, but they could be used to complement and complete each other."
"Maybe so but we don't know how to coordinate our gifts, we don't throw the balls in to each other hands , we throw them in to two different directions, they fall on the ground and there is no one to pick them up."
Daniel still did not come, I  admired how well Esther mastered her impatience.
"Let me go out for him," I said.
She shrugged her shoulders and tried to smile, but she did not hinder.
Daniel was standing in the yard between the parsonage and the church surrounded by a group of people having a lively discussion,  I said to him:
"Daniel I have a message for these people, could you please interpret for me?"
He smiled in agreement.
"Ladies and gentlemen," I said ,   "The man to whom you have been talking with is a very tired man , he is also very hungry , in his house, his wife sits and weeps, because the food is getting cold, besides that they have a guest, he is also very tired and hungry because he lectured tonight in a certain church..."
The last words were drowned in laughter and apologies, in less than a minute they all left.
"You can do that," Daniel said as we walked to his house, "but they would not accept it from me."
"Did you ever try?"
We entered the house and sat down at the table , Esther brought the hot dish in from the kitchen again , Daniel said grace, then the telephone rang , as if stung by a bee, Daniel jumped up.
So did I , I put my hands on his shoulder and forced him back in his chair, telling Esther:
"You go and take it! tell the caller that your husband is having his evening meals , ask whether he could call him back later on or whether you can take the massage."
She came back quickly.
"It was a man, he said he just wanted to greet you, he had no special reason for calling."
We began our meals together.
"It is always the same," Esther commented,  "As soon as we sit down for meal , the telephone rings , Daniel would get up four or five times during each meal."
"You will get sick, Daniel, if you continue like this, and Esther is your duty to protect him."
"If only he will let me."
"Daniel you are not the bellboy of your parish, you are the pastor."
The telephone rang again, I realized that it took all of Daniel strength and will power not to get up, I nodded to his Esther and she went to pick it.
While she was away, Daniel said:
"You see now why we put you up in a hotel?"
"Yes I understand, but you must find a solutions this is bad stewardship of your time and Strengthen."
Esther returned, "Someone mother is sick," she said. "but it is not serious, I could see her tomorrow morning, I took down the address."
 
"Really, Esther you should not have to answer the telephone either, you should train someone from your parish to take these calls at certain times."
"It is not only telephone, the visitors and caller too are a problem, they come at any time."
"I can see no other solution, you must decide on certain hours when you are available and then post these times on the door."
Daniel said,  "Africans would not understand it, they would think it is very impolite, it is against their traditions."
"Listen my brother, if you were go to Germany and visit any parish, I can promise you that the pastor there would not have the same problem, it is a question of whether you are obedient to your customs or to your calling, you knew the story about the light house keeper, it was his responsibility to keep the light burning and supplied with oil night and day.
"The light house guide ships as they passed though a dangerous straight, the people of nearby village would come to the light house keeper and would ask him for just a little bit of oil for their lamp, he was too good natured ever to say "no" .
"So he give away his supply of oil little by see little, one day there was no oil left and the light went out, as a result a ship went on the rocks and sank, his good naturedness  had caused the deaths of many."
"You are right," Daniel said,   "I just can't say no."
"It is not only your ministry which is at stake, but also your marriage."
"We have new start, I know, it is the right angle of the triangle which we need to work on the angle of sharing,"
"If we could only have fifteen uninterrupted minutes together every morning!" Esther said,   "but we stumble into our day with out plan and then we just wait and see what happens, I never knew what he is going to do, he doesn't know what I do, we have to fixed meals time, it is hard on the children too."
There was a knock at the door, both of them looked at me inquiring.
"What is the girl in the kitchen doing?" I asked.
"She is waiting to wash the dishes when we are finished."
We heard the knock again.
"Tell her to go to the door and tell the caller to come back tomorrow _"
"But it must be before nine o'clock, Daniel interrupted.
After a few minutes the girl returned.
"What did he say?"
"He agreed."
"Well," Daniel said,  shaking his head,  "in the long run our people will not understand this."